Chuck and semiconductor process using the same

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor process is described in this application. The process includes the following steps: providing a semiconductor substrate; measuring a warpage level of the semiconductor substrate; and holding the semiconductor substrate by providing at least one vacuum suction according to the warpage level, so that the semiconductor substrate is subjected to a plurality of varied suction intensities. The semiconductor substrate is held on a chuck having a plurality of holes grouped into a plurality of groups, and the sizes of the holes within different groups are different, wherein the sizes of the holes increase from a center toward an edge of the chuck, and the holes are arranged in a spiral.

CROSS REFERENCE

The application is a division application of a U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/600,231, filed on Aug. 31, 2012, currently pending, thedisclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor apparatus andprocess, and more particularly, to a chuck and a semiconductor processusing the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

It is currently common to form a plurality of films on a wafer in asemiconductor process, so the wafer is subject to warpage because of thepressure or stress resulting from the films stacked thereon. On thecontrary, the warping wafer would result in poor uniformity of the filmssubsequently formed on the wafer. Therefore, it is an important issue toreduce the degree of warpage of the wafer.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus ofsemiconductor process including a chuck and a vacuum source is provided.The chuck has a plurality of holes for holding a semiconductor substrateand the vacuum source is used for providing vacuum suction through theholes to make the semiconductor substrate be subjected to varyingsuction intensities according to a warpage level thereof.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the holes are grouped intoa plurality of groups, and the sizes of the holes within differentgroups are different.

In some embodiments of the present invention, each group of the holes isarranged as a ring, and the rings are concentric.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the sizes of the holesincrease from a center toward an edge of the chuck.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the sizes of the holesdecrease from a center toward an edge of the chuck.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the holes are arranged ina radial arrangement or a spiral arrangement.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the chuck has a firstwarpage toward a first direction and the semiconductor substrate has asecond warpage toward a second direction before being subjected to thevaried suction intensities, and the second direction is opposite to thefirst direction.

In some embodiments of the present invention, wherein a radius of thechuck is smaller than that of the semiconductor substrate.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the holes have the samesize.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a semiconductorprocess including the following steps is provided. First, asemiconductor substrate is provided. Next, a warpage level of thesemiconductor substrate is measured. Then, the semiconductor substrateis held by providing a vacuum suction according to the warpage level, sothat the semiconductor substrate is subject to varied suctionintensities.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the semiconductorsubstrate is held on a chuck having a plurality of holes with differentsizes, and the vacuum suction is identically applied to thesemiconductor substrate through the holes.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the semiconductorsubstrate is held on a chuck having a plurality of holes with the samesize, and the vacuum suction is variedly applied to the semiconductorsubstrate through the holes.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the semiconductorsubstrate is placed on a chuck having a plurality of holes aftermeasuring the warpage level of the semiconductor substrate.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the semiconductorsubstrate is placed on a chuck having a plurality of holes beforemeasuring the warpage level of the semiconductor substrate.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the semiconductor processfurther includes performing a treatment process for the semiconductorsubstrate after providing the vacuum suction.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the treatment processincludes photolithographic process, such as coating process, bakingprocess and exposing process.

In accordance with the aforementioned apparatus of the semiconductorprocess, the chuck has a plurality of holes for holding thesemiconductor substrate, and the vacuum source is used for providingvacuum suction through the holes to make the semiconductor substrate besubjected to varied suction intensities according to the warpage levelthereof, so that the warpage of the semiconductor substrate can beeliminated. Therefore, the yield of the process of the semiconductorsubstrate performed as the semiconductor substrate placed on the chuckcan be increased and the uniformity of the material layer formed on thesemiconductor substrate may be improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects and advantages of the present invention will becomemore readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art afterreviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional schematic view illustrating a semiconductorsubstrate placed on a chuck in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention;

FIGS. 2 to 3 are top views respectively illustrating a chuck with aplurality of holes arranged in a radial arrangement in accordance withsome embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional schematic view illustrating a semiconductorsubstrate placed on a chuck in accordance with another embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 4B is a top view illustrating the chuck shown in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating a chuck with a plurality of holesarranged as a plurality of rings in accordance with some embodiments ofthe invention;

FIGS. 6 to 8 are top views respectively illustrating a chuck with aplurality of holes arranged in a spiral arrangement in accordance withother embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional schematic view illustrating a semiconductorsubstrate placed on a chuck in accordance with another embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described more specifically withreference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that thefollowing descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention arepresented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise formdisclosed.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional schematic view illustrating an apparatus ofsemiconductor process 100 in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus of semiconductor process100 includes a chuck 110, which has a plurality of holes 112, and atleast one vacuum source 101. For operation, a semiconductor substrate120, such as a wafer, is placed and held on the chuck 110 by vacuumsuction provided from the vacuum source 101 through the holes 112. Indetail, the semiconductor substrate 120 can be subjected to variedsuction intensities.

In this embodiment, the sizes of the holes 112, e.g. the radii of theholes 112 which are circular in this embodiment, are different.Specifically, the holes 112 are grouped into a plurality of groups andthe sizes of the holes within different groups are different. Thus, thesemiconductor substrate 120 can be subjected to different suctionintensities corresponding to different regions of the chuck 110 underidentical suction force, which is provided by the vacuum source 101,exerted through the holes 112 with or having different sizes.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2-3, each group of the holes 112,for example, is arranged as a ring, and the rings are concentric.Furthermore, the holes 112 which are arranged in the same ring have thesame sizes, but the sizes of the holes 112 arranged in different ringsare different. Specifically, the sizes of the holes 112 increase from acenter toward an edge of the chuck 110, as shown in FIG. 2. Therefore,when the vacuum source 101 provides an identical vacuum suction throughthe (whole) holes 112 to the semiconductor substrate 120, radially outerportions of semiconductor substrate 120 can be subjected to greatersuction intensity because of the holes 112 located therein such outerportions having greater sizes. Accordingly, for the semiconductorsubstrate 120 having a sunken region at the center thereof before beingplaced on the chuck 110, the greater suction intensity applied to theradially outer portions of the semiconductor substrate 120 may flattenthe semiconductor substrate 120.

In other embodiments, the sizes of the holes 112 may decrease from acenter toward an edge of the chuck 110 (as shown in FIG. 3), so thatwhen the identical vacuum suction is provided by the vacuum source 101through the (whole) holes 112, radially inner portions of semiconductorsubstrate 120 can be subjected to greater suction intensity because ofthe holes 112 having greater sizes. Accordingly, for the semiconductorsubstrate 120 having a protrusion at the center thereof before beingplaced on the chuck 110, the greater suction intensity applied to thecenter of the semiconductor substrate 120 may flatten the semiconductorsubstrate 120. Thus, it can be seen that the variation of the sizes ofthe holes 112 is determined according to the warpage amount or level ofthe semiconductor substrate 120 before being placed on the chuck 110.

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional schematic view illustrating a semiconductorsubstrate placed on a chuck in accordance with another embodiment of theinvention, and FIG. 4B is a top view illustrating the chuck shown inFIG. 4A. Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, although in the aforementionedembodiments, the chuck 110 has a plurality of holes 112 with differentsizes, but the invention is not limited hereto. In other embodiments,the holes 112 may have the same size. Further, in this embodiment, anapparatus of semiconductor process 400 includes a plurality of vacuumsources 401 for providing different suction intensities, and differentgroups of the holes 112 correspond to different vacuum sources 401,respectively. Thus, the semiconductor substrate 120 in this embodimentalso can be subjected to varied suction intensities corresponding todifferent regions thereof by using the chuck 110 having the holes 112with the same size.

The holes 112 shown in FIGS. 2-3 and 4B are arranged orderly in one ormore particular specified pattern along the radius direction of thechuck 110. That is, the holes 112 shown in FIGS. 2-3 and 4B are arrangedin a radial arrangement. However, the invention is not limited hereto.In other embodiments, the holes 112 can be arranged in ringconfiguration but not orderly arranged in a linear pattern along theradius direction of the chuck 110, as shown in FIG. 5.

Moreover, the holes 112 also can be arranged in a spiral arrangement, asshown in FIGS. 6-8. Moreover, the sizes of the holes 112 not only can bedifferent, such as becoming larger and larger (as shown in FIG. 6) orsmaller and smaller (as shown in FIG. 7) from the center toward the edgeof the chuck 110, but also can be the same, as shown in FIG. 8. Thearrangement and dimensions of the holes 112 depend on the distributionand magnitude of vacuum suction needed for the semiconductor substrate120.

Referring to FIG. 1 again, after placing the semiconductor substrate 120on the chuck 110, a forming process can be performed to form a layer 130on the semiconductor substrate 120. Specifically, the layer 130 is a,for example, photoresist layer. Accordingly, since the vacuum source 101can provide vacuum suction through the holes 112 of the chuck 110 to thesemiconductor substrate 120 for eliminating warpage of the semiconductorsubstrate 120, the layer 130 can be formed on the semiconductorsubstrate 120 uniformly, so that the film quality of the layer 130 canbe improved.

In this embodiment, after forming the layer 130 on the semiconductorsubstrate 120 placed on the chuck 110, a photo-lithographic process,such as a baking process and an exposing process, can be performed insequence. Since the chuck 110 can eliminate the warpage of thesemiconductor substrate 120, the accuracy of the exposing process on thelayer 130 can be enhanced.

Moreover, the chuck 110 has a first radius d1 and the semiconductorsubstrate 120 has a second radius d2 greater than the first radius d1for facilitating the cleaning process of the semiconductor substrate120. For example, the second radius d2 is greater than the first radiusd1 at about 1 mm.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional schematic view illustrating a semiconductorsubstrate 120 placed on a chuck 810 in accordance with anotherembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 9, the chuck 810 issimilar to the aforementioned chuck 110. That is, the chuck 810 has aplurality of holes 112 with the same size or different sizes. Further,the chuck 810 has a first warpage toward a first direction (i.e. thedownward direction in the FIG. 9). Therefore, when the semiconductorsubstrate 120 with a second warpage toward a second direction (i.e. theupward direction in the FIG. 9) opposite to the first direction isplaced on the chuck 810, the semiconductor substrate 120 can beflattened by the first warpage of the chuck 810 and the varied suctionintensities applied through the holes 112 of the chuck 810. It should benoted that the first direction may be the upward direction in the FIG. 9and the second direction may be the downward direction in the FIG. 9 inother embodiments, but the invention is not limited hereto.

Accordingly, the chuck 110 and the chuck 810 described in theaforementioned embodiment can improve the process yield of thesemiconductor substrate 120 placed on the chuck 110 and the chuck 810. Asemiconductor process using the aforementioned chuck 110, 810 would bedescribed in the following paragraphs.

Referring to FIG. 1, the semiconductor substrate 120, such as a wafer,is provided. Next, a warpage level of the semiconductor substrate 120 ismeasured. Then, the semiconductor substrate 120 is held by providing atleast one vacuum suction according to the warpage level, so that thesemiconductor substrate 120 is subject to varied suction intensities.Specifically, the vacuum suction is applied through the holes 112 of thechuck 110. In detail, if the sizes of the holes 112 of the chuck 110 aredifferent, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 6 and 7, an identically vacuumsuction can be applied through the holes 112, and then the suctionintensity provided through the (larger) hole 112 may be greater thanthat provided through the (smaller) hole 112. On the contrary, if thesizes of the holes 112 of the chuck 110 are the same, as shown in FIGS.4B and 8, the varied suction intensities can be provided throughdifferent holes 112. Furthermore, the warpage level of the semiconductorsubstrate 120 can be measured before or after placing the semiconductorsubstrate 120 on the chuck 110.

Since the semiconductor substrate 120 placed on the chuck 110 canundergoes varied suction intensities according to the warpage levelthereof, the chuck 110 can maintain the semiconductor substrate 120 tobe flat, so that the yield of the sequential process may be increased.For example, after providing vacuum suction to the semiconductorsubstrate 120 to reduce the warpage level of the semiconductor substrate120, a treatment process for the semiconductor substrate 120 may beperformed. In this embodiment, the treatment process may be a processfor forming the layer 130 shown in FIG. 1, or a photolithographicprocess of the layer 130, such as baking process and exposing process,but the invention is not limited hereto.

In summary, when the semiconductor substrate is placed on the chuck, thesemiconductor substrate can be subjected to varied suction intensitiesthrough the holes of the chuck according to the warpage level thereof,so that the warpage of the semiconductor substrate can be eliminated.Therefore, the process yield of the semiconductor substrate placed onthe chuck can be increased and the uniformity of the layer formed on thesemiconductor substrate may be improved.

While the invention has been described in terms of what is presentlyconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is tobe understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosedembodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor process, comprising: providing asemiconductor substrate; measuring a warpage level of the semiconductorsubstrate; and holding the semiconductor substrate by providing at leastone vacuum suction according to the warpage level, so that thesemiconductor substrate is subjected to a plurality of varied suctionintensities, wherein the semiconductor substrate is held on a chuckhaving a plurality of holes grouped into a plurality of groups, and thesizes of the holes within different groups are different, wherein thesizes of the holes increase from a center toward an edge of the chuck,and the holes are arranged in a spiral.
 2. The semiconductor process ofclaim 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate is placed on the chunkafter measuring the warpage level of the semiconductor substrate.
 3. Thesemiconductor process of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate isplaced on the chuck before measuring the warpage level of thesemiconductor substrate.
 4. The semiconductor process of claim 1,further comprising: performing a treatment process for the semiconductorsubstrate after providing the vacuum suction.
 5. The semiconductorprocess of claim 4, wherein the treatment process comprises aphotolithographic process.
 6. The semiconductor process of claim 5,wherein the photolithographic process comprises at least one of coatingprocess, baking process and exposing process.
 7. A semiconductorprocess, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate; measuring awarpage level of the semiconductor substrate; and holding thesemiconductor substrate by providing at least one vacuum suctionaccording to the warpage level, so that the semiconductor substrate issubjected to a plurality of varied suction intensities, wherein thesemiconductor substrate is held on a chuck having a plurality of holesgrouped into a plurality of groups, and the sizes of the holes withindifferent groups are different, wherein the sizes of the holes decreasefrom a center toward an edge of the chuck, and the holes are arranged ina spiral.
 8. The semiconductor process of claim 7, wherein thesemiconductor substrate is placed on the chunk after measuring thewarpage level of the semiconductor substrate.
 9. The semiconductorprocess of claim 7, wherein the semiconductor substrate is placed on thechuck before measuring the warpage level of the semiconductor substrate.10. The semiconductor process of claim 7, further comprising: performinga treatment process for the semiconductor substrate after providing thevacuum suction.
 11. The semiconductor process of claim 10, wherein thetreatment process comprises a photolithographic process.
 12. Thesemiconductor process of claim 11, wherein the photolithographic processcomprises at least one of coating process, baking process and exposingprocess.